Are linden roots a problem for foundations or pipes?
Shallow, dense and fibrous, colonizing the top foot of soil aggressively — this is why turf never establishes under a mature linden and why roots surface in lawns on central Indiana clay, which keeps them shallower still. Basswood suckers off those lateral roots, so a mowed lawn can develop a ring of shoots ten feet out from the trunk, and narrow tree lawns get heaved.
Size drives root spread
American basswood runs 60 to 80 ft with a broad crown; littleleaf linden tops out nearer 50 to 60 ft and stays narrower, so a subdivision littleleaf is usually a mid-bracket removal while a woodlot basswood is a high one. Both are capable of well over a century, but on basswood, heart decay at old multi-stem clumps usually decides the tree long before age does.
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